Cyber Criminals Attempt to Steal Manuscripts

Books are as old as the printing press and as such you might think they are above becoming victims to modern crime, but this week we have learned that cyber criminals have attempted to steal manuscripts and other sensitive author information from Penguin Random House.

This week PRH issued an urgent warning to all staff over a phishing scam that attempted to access manuscripts and other author details. The company sent the email to staff on Wednesday reading “Important: New Phishing Alert” and reads: “We have recently seen an increase in attempts to steal our manuscripts. This has occurred in multiple locations across the globe. The individuals attempting to access these manuscripts have a sophisticated understanding of our business. We need to protect ourselves from these threats.”

It seems the scammers have chosen the beginning of the Frankfurt book fair to attempt to catch staff unawares, prompting PRH to warn staff to be extremely careful about confidential information and manuscripts.

According to a report in The Bookseller, it’s not only PRH who have been affected as Pan Macmillan, and Faber also report attempted thefts.

While cyber criminals have targeted publishing houses previously it’s been for sensitive information, the attempted theft of manuscripts is a new development and shows the potential value of unreleased bestsellers in the age of digital reading.

A fantasy writer has tweeted a scathing response to US talk show host Bill Maher’s condescending rant about comic book fans.

The New York Times Bestseller, Catherynne Valente, took to Twitter to tell Maher (and anyone who agrees with him) how utterly ridiculous it is to look down on people who read comic books or graphic novels.

Bill Maher had delivered a tirade on one of his shows after the death of Marvel Comics legend, Stan Lee. He claimed comic books and the like are for children, not adults, and even attempted to blame the state of American politics on the fact ‘millennials’ read literature with pictures in…

Valente took him to task on Twitter, first shaming him for his hypocrisy, and then explaining how very wrong he was to be so narrow minded and ignorant.

We all love an independent bookshop and thankfully the UK is still full of these little treasures in almost every town. The British Book Awards, or Nibbies, has revealed the regional shortlists for the 2019 Independent Bookshop of the Year, an award that is sponsored by Gardners Books.

The Bookseller reports that in all, forty-eight bookshops are competing, from nine regions of the UK and are all hoping to win in their local area before going forward to compete for the overall, nationwide prize.

Here are the shortlisted books for each region. We have some of the bookshops listed in our bookshop section so the ones featured are linked:Read More

Many people just pick up a book, read it and decide from there whether they love it or not, for others the gender of the author is important. The gender gap in literature has been present for years, perpetuated through history by male nom de plumes and lack of respect generally for female literature.

Some bookshops have even gone so far as to create visual experiments to show how many of the shelves are dominated by male authors.

The BBC has announced this week that it has purchased the rights to Michael Moorcock’s Runestaff series for a television adaptation.

The fantastic book series will be adapted by screenwriter Steve Thompson, known for Sherlock and Doctor Who, producer John Yorke, of Life on Mars fame and executive producer Richard Stokes who has worked on Broadchurch, and Torchwood, to develop the adaptation.

Paddington is one of those bears who has stood the test of time, and has even outlived his creator Michael Bond who sadly passed away in 2019. Today we hear the news that StudioCanal will be working with Nickelodeon and award winning producer David Heyman in a global deal for a brand new Paddington Bear inspired television series for pre-schoolers.

Actor Ben Whishaw who voiced the bear in Paddington the Movie and its sequel will reprise his role for the new CGI-animated series. The series will follow the adventures of a young Paddington Bear and will air worldwide on Nickelodeon in 2020.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has been a successful venture since it started in 1995, and recently hit its 100 millionth donation! Thanks to people joining in and supporting the charity, Dolly’s team have been able to reach further afield- starting with Ireland.

The programme aims to give as many children as possible a free book and help start them on their literary journey, or encourage one already flourishing. It was launched in Ireland at the South Dublin County Council Library in Tallaght on Thursday. New books will now be available for all children aged up to five living in Dublin 24, for free!